


Mystery Spot

by fionasank



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Angst and Romance, Gen, M/M, Mystery Spot, Romance, what do i pUt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fionasank/pseuds/fionasank
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day they've woken up in the hotel, gone to breakfast, investigated the Mystery Spot. And every day, Dean has kissed him. And then he wakes up. And then it's Thursday again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> So basically it's a tiny AU where 'Mystery Spot' never happened but 'Tall Tales' and 'Changing Channels' did. Thanks!

"You think you're stuck in some kind of _what_?"

"Time loop," Cas says on the fourth Thursday.

"Oh, like _Groundhog Day?"_

"What's that?"

"Does the exact same day keep repeating over and over, with nothing changing but you?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Does it all reset at midnight?"

Cas frowns. "No."

"When, then?"

"It resets when you fall in love with me."

Dean accidentally squirts ketchup a foot away from his plate. " _What?_ "

This is the first day Cas has told Dean the truth. Every day for three days they've woken up in the hotel, gone to breakfast, investigated the Mystery Spot. And every day for three days, Dean has kissed him.

And then he wakes up. And then it's Thursday again.

"Well we just have to make sure I don't fall in love with you, okay?" Dean avoids his eye as he cuts into his bacon. "Should be pretty friggin' easy."

Cas nods and says nothing, sandwiching his hands between his thighs. He hopes Dean fails.

* * *

They make a brief stop at the hotel before heading to the Mystery Spot because Dean suggests it, and Cas agrees because they haven't done it before. Dean sends Cas out to Sioux Falls to secretly check up on Sam, as he does every Thursday. He's the same, researching with Bobby on a new case. Dean had been reluctant to leave him, as he always is. But he'd felt better after he learned that he'd be accompanied by Cas.

He can't help but wonder why this is happening, and whether it's real, and whether Dean really is in love with him, or if he'll stop as soon as the Thursdays do.

 _Thursdays._ He smirks. An inside joke Dean hadn't picked up on. Seeing as Cas is the _angel_ of Thursday _,_ safe to say, he feels a little targeted.

But if he's gonna be stuck with anyone in this, he's glad it's Dean. Because yesterday, when Dean kissed him for the third time, he realised he loves him, too.

"Hey, Cas, what the hell is this?" Dean yells as soon as Cas gets back to the room. He's holding something in his hand, and Cas's trenchcoat in the other. (He'd left it in case Dean had to go out, seeing as it's winter and cold and he loves him.) Cas takes a second to focus. Oh. It's the amulet.

"It's your amulet."

"I _know_ it's my freakin' amulet, why the fuck do you _have_ it?!"

He'd forgotten that it was a secret, he's been carrying it around for so long.

"I picked it up after you threw it away a few years ago. I thought you might regret it."

"You -" He readjusts himself on his feet. "You never told me?"

"I was saving it for when things were good with Sam."

"Things are good _now_."

"Properly good. Not your version."

Dean lets out a breathy laugh, his anger turning to amazement, and he starts to smile. He looks from the necklace to Cas and back again, eyes eventually settling on Cas and not leaving. Cas swallows.

He doesn't think, _oh no._ He doesn't think, _not again._ He doesn't even think, _not yet._

He thinks, _I love you, too._

They kiss and it's perfect and Cas warms from head to toe and this is the best type of flying, much better than his version -

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans. Cas decides to try a new tactic.

"Dean, I love you."

He freezes. "I'm sorry?"

Cas doesn't reply, just waits as Dean turns to him slowly.

"Like, as a friend? Like, 'hey, I love you, man'?"

Cas shakes his head.

Dean nods. "Well, okay."

The day continues as usual.

* * *

Dean is on the phone to Sam, listening to all the research Sam's done about the Mystery Spot. Dean didn't even ask him to do it. Sam had just assumed. Cas feels unnecessary, so fetches Dean a double bacon cheeseburger from that seaside shack in Delaware because it's his favourite and he loves him.

Cas hands Dean the bag. Dean nods in thanks without making eye contact, making notes with his phone held awkwardly between his ear and shoulder.

There's nothing else to do so Cas pretends to fly off but really just disappears and watches Dean as he gets off the phone and pulls the burger out of the bag. He winks at it and whispers "you and me gonna have some fun" before taking a bite. His eyes close as his childhood memories come flooding back and he swallows and sits there for a little while, thinking. "Damnit," he says eventually. "God fucking damnit."

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

"I'm sorry. Good morning."

"Yeah. Morning," he grumbles, pushing past Cas to the bathroom. Cas exhales slowly. Day 6. Thursday again.

* * *

They check out the Mystery Spot at night this time, Cas keeping quiet and distant all day as not to set anything off in Dean. He waits at the hotel while Dean eats breakfast, lunch. He nods and avoids eye contact and sighs and says "humanity is giving me a headache" and deals with the resultant look on Dean's face.

It's dark so they take flashlights, Dean whispering "stay close" in that low voice, and Cas doesn't need to be told twice. He treads quietly, watching the muscles in Dean's neck move as he looks around.

"Doesn't look like there's anyone here," Dean says at a normal pitch after a few minutes of scouting around. "Can you, I dunno, sense anyone?"

"No."

He receives that face again, the one that's a little bit hurt but doesn't know why. Cas knows why. But he can't tell him.

And then he hears a gun cock behind him.

"Don't move!" cries a male voice, and Cas spins round to see that an old man is holding a shotgun out in front of him.

Dean raises his gun immediately. The man aims his at Cas. "Drop it or I'll shoot!"

Dean's face transforms instantly, becoming scared and horrified and still confused as to why. He glances over to Cas.

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

Cas looks around himself in disdain. Even though Cas had been in no real danger, what with being an angel and all, Dean had reacted by imagining, if for a fleeting moment, a world without him. Of course he'd fallen in love with him. Stupid.

It occurs to Cas that he didn't sense the man's presence behind him, or at all. He wonders what would have happened if Dean had been shot. Presumably fell in love with his last seconds. Cas isn't sure how he feels about this.

"Hey, Cas, look alive," Dean says, walking past him to the bathroom and slapping him on the shoulder. "Big day ahead."

* * *

"You think you're stuck in some kind of _what_?"

"Time loop."

"Oh, like _Groundhog Day?"_

"In the basic concept, yes."

"Does it all reset at midnight?"

Pause. Hesitation. "Yes."

Dean cuts into his bacon, still looking at Cas. "You think it's got something to do with the Mystery Spot?"

"It's possible. I went there before and I found I couldn't sense other people's prescences. It was like my senses were off."

"You went there already? When?"

"Last night." It's correct, for him.

"We were driving all last night."

"While you were asleep."

Dean frowns. "Couldn't have waited for me?"

"I don't sleep, I thought it would be useful to have a little knowledge on the place before going in there." Cas remembers sadly that it was Dean who taught him to lie in the first place.

Dean eyes him for a few seconds, sizing the situation up. "Yeah, well, next time tell me. I would have come with you," he says eventually.

Cas considers arguing some more, but it's pointless, seeing as he's lying about going in the first place. "Okay."

"Okay then." Dean nods to himself, turning his attention back to his food. "You find anything else?"

"The owner has a shotgun."

Dean snorts a laugh around a mouthful of food. Cas smiles fondly. "Good to know," Dean says. "So, when's the best time to go back, d'you think?"

Cas tells himself that it doesn't mean anything that Dean is asking for his opinion on what he does best. It's just because Cas went last night.

He thinks about the question. So far he's only been to the Mystery Spot once, at night. And we all know how _that_ went.

"What about now?" Cas asks casually.

"Full of tourists? You sure?"

"We can better observe the effects of the place. Also, it's less likely there'd be any trouble with people around."

"Alright, this one's on you." He finishes up his food, slapping some money on the table and winking to the waitress, Doris. As they walk out, Cas looks at the diner he's been in a few times. Nothing ever changes, apart from whether they go to it or not, and how much Dean knows. It's like the world stays the same around him while Cas is changing. And the only other thing he can change is Dean.

When it comes down to it, if you asked him, he wouldn't be sure whether he wants to give this up. To ask Dean _not_ to fall in love with him? To _not_ see that look in his eye? To _not_ feel his lips on his own, his hands on his waist, in his hair? That's not something Cas is sure he could ever do.

* * *

"It's a mystery spot!" says the old man, the owner. He smiles, like he's excited about it.

"How?" Cas asks.

The man winks. "Take the tour."

"We have already. Nothing weird about it," Dean says, voice uninterested and slightly cold. He looks around at the thirty or so people milling about due to the recent article, sighs, and says "let's go" in Cas's ear, loud enough for the owner to hear.

Panic crosses the man's face. "Wait," he says suddenly. "I can't... I shouldn't tell you about this."

Something hints to Cas that he's really going to.

The man looks around himself, then leads them into his messy little office, closing the door behind him. "Okay, you guys are with the press, so I wouldn't usually be telling you this, but my car was just stolen and I'm running behind on rent and this-" he gestures to the crowd outside the door "- ain't cutting it."

Dean nods. "We understand. Anything you can tell us."

"Okay. Right. A couple weeks back, I was in here at night and I swear, I heard this voice."

"Can you describe it for us?"

"It was creepy, like... I don't know if it was a man or a woman. And it just, it just, _laughed._ It was horrible."

Dean's face furrows in suspicion. "Anything else?"

The man shakes his head slightly. "Not then. But after that night, weird stuff started happening here. Like, _real_ weird stuff. Dexter Hasselback went missing, and stuff keeps disappearing all over the place. I keep seeing things, like in the corner of my eye, that I _know_ can't be real." The way he says it gets rid of any hesitance Cas had had to believe him. He's blatantly terrified.

"Thank you for your time, sir, you've been very helpful," Dean says, turning to Cas and giving him the look that means it's time to go. Cas nods to the owner and follows Dean out of the building.

"What you thinking?" Dean asks, pocketing his notebook and pulling out his cell.

"This sounds like a trickster to me," Cas replies.

Dean raises his eyebrows. "Gabriel?"

"No, there are other tricksters. Real ones. It could be one of them."

"Wooden stake, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm gonna call Sam, catch him up in case he's chasing some false leads." He dials speed dial #1 on his phone and has a brief conversation with Sam.

"Well, that's enough for now. I say we hit the hotel, get the stuff, come back around nightfall to gank this thing."

"I agree." Cas's mouth quirks up at the side.

"What?"

"What?"

"What you smiling for?"

"I was just thinking about how passionate you are about helping people. I love you so much."

Long pause. "Oh."

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

Cas watches Dean's bare torso before a black t-shirt is pulled over it. He watches his bare arms before a plaid shirt is slipped on, and then his bare arms again as the sleeves are pushed up to the elbows. He watches his fingers fumble nimbly with the laces of his boots, weaving in and out and in and out like the way Dean has been slowly weaving his way into Cas's heart, adding patterns and shapes to the outside until Cas realised one day that he was built into the foundation, too, he'd been slowly staking claim, so subtly that Cas hadn't even noticed until the process was complete and he was woven there forever.

"Do you want breakfast?" Cas asks, moving to watch Dean brush his teeth and rinse his mouth. Dean just nods and gives him a thumbs up.

"The diner down the road has a special on today. Something with bacon, I think."

Dean spits into the sink. "Really? That's lucky."

"They also have pie, too. I could bring one back here, if you'd like."

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

"Oh, are you _serious?_ "

* * *

"A trickster? You sure?"

"I'm relatively certain."

"Well, alright. Let's hit the hotel, get the stuff, come back around nightfall to gank this thing." He checks his watch. "It's only 2pm. Wanna go get some lunch?"

"Dean, I don't eat."

"I know, I was asking if you wanted to come with me."

"Oh. Yes, okay."

He takes shotgun in the Impala, still marvelling at this fact. Dean is in the driver's seat and is reversing into the street in less than five seconds.

"You're a very skilled driver," Cas tells him.

"Yeah, thanks. It's just practise. You put me in any other car, takes me just as long as anyone else."

They drive in silence for a little bit, which Cas recognises as weird because every other day Dean has turned on the radio within the first minute of every car journey. He looks at the side of Dean's face. It looks normal, but it mostly always does.

"Hey, Cas." Dean turns to him and starts when he sees Cas was staring at him. "Uh, hey."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. No. I was just." He purses his lips, neglecting to look at the road as often as he should. "Thinking."

He goes quiet again, building towards something. Cas lets him.

"Nevermind."

"Dean, if you're troubled, I want to help."

Dean's knuckles are white on the wheel. It's like he's trying hard to stop something. Cas can guess what it is. He wants to take those hands in his, smooth out the fingers with warmth and patience.

The car stops suddenly. They've arrived at a fast food place. Dean gets out.

Cas opens his door and steps out, moving to follow Dean. "No," Dean says, stopping him. "I, uh, I was thinking we could ask the locals some questions, see if they've seen anything weird."

"Why? We have everything we need."

"Couldn't hurt to get a little background info, right? We might be wrong, or someone might be in on it."

"Dean."

"I'll meet you at the hotel later, okay? Keep your ears on." He walks off and Cas is left with a heart that would prefer being full or broken to this purgatory, this in-between uncertainty, the inability to commit to a state of mind. It's killing him.

Day 9. He's not sure how much longer he can do this.

* * *

He goes back to the hotel, sits down on Dean's bed. The duffel bag with most of his possessions is at the foot, and that's it. Nothing else to show that this is where Dean Winchester spent his night. This bed is where all of Dean's worries and inhibitions fell away and he was more vulnerable than he could ever be when awake. And all it has to show for itself is a duffel bag.

If Cas's arms were the place where this could happen, he'd show it every day in the way his Grace would beam.

He looks at the dimly lit alarm clock: 2:16pm. Knowing Dean, he'll be out until around 9. Cas wonders where he is, what he's doing, that kind of stuff. Most likely he's still at Biggerson's, with the double bacon cheeseburger he always

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. He looks around himself in surprise. He wasn't even there that time. He's never going to see how it happened, what made Dean realise he loved him. He's never going to see the look on his face as he thinks it through, whether he's happy or sad or relieved or angry. He's never going to be able to tell that version of Dean that he loves him too.

Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

Before he has the chance, though, Cas is standing in front of him, putting his hands on Dean's shoulders, then his face. "Cas, what, why are you -" is silenced by Cas leaning and pulling and then kissing him, for the fifth time, but it feels like the first, because to Dean, it is.

Dean kisses back out of instinct at first, and then because he wants to. He grabs Cas's hair with both hands and pushes him up against the nearest wall, connecting them at the chest and the hips as well as the lips, and Dean's kissing him like he's never done before and Cas's head is spinning and he's not waking up at the foot of the bed because Dean hasn't figured out that he loves him yet and Cas is pulling Dean closer, as close as is possible, because he doesn't know when he'll get another chance.

Cas feels the warmth from Dean's bare chest through all his layers and then Dean is taking them off, quick and rushed, frantic and grasping. They head in the general direction of the shitty bed that in this moment seems to Cas like the second most glorious thing in the world.

* * *

While Dean sleeps, Cas stares up at the ceiling, at the pattern of the paint and stains and the passing dust in the air. He has a stupid smile on his face and has done for the past hour. It doesn't look like it's going anywhere any time soon.

He looks over to where Dean lies next to him, limbs sprawled out, face sideways on the pillow. The freckles continue on his back, and Cas finds a cluster that looks like Orion.

How ironic. Cas is finding the universe in Dean.

He's careful not to wake Dean up, because he knows how this story goes. The record changes, but the song remains the same. Dean can't fall in love with him if he's not awake. This is a rare opportunity. He's content to simply watch the side of Dean's face for as long as he can.

Wait – content? No. He's never been happier.

At around 10am Dean hums, low, and sniffs. He opens his eyes slowly, blinking. He looks at Cas in front of him and smiles.

"Cas, right? I'm Dean." He holds out his hand for Cas to shake. Cas laughs, batting it away. "You know me too well," Dean says, smirking, which soon turns to a grin.

Cas grabs his hand back, holding it to his face, nuzzling his nose in between Dean's fingers and closing his eyes. He breathes in Dean's smell of dirt and must and beer, holding it in his mind, tattooing it into his memory. He can't afford to let this moment go.

After a few beautiful moments, he opens his eyes to see Dean staring at him. His eyes are so big and so green and so here and so obviously in love.

Oh, no.

Cas holds Dean to him, as close as he can manage, panicking, heart beating fast. Any second now. Any fucking second. He doesn't want to go.

"Dean, I -"

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

"No," Cas breathes, watching as Dean gets dressed and wanders around like nothing's happened. Because nothing _has_ happened. To him. To Cas, the love of his life has just forgotten his new favourite memory.

"Cas, something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Dean laughs at his own joke, taking a knife from under his pillow and slipping it into his duffel bag.

"I can't do this." His head is spinning. He's gonna throw up.

"What, the case? Seems pretty simple."

"No, _this._ "

"Talk to me, man. What's going on?"

Cas turns and grips the dresser, knocks it to the ground with such force that it breaks at the sides. "It's the eleventh Thursday I've been through, and each one is worse than the last, I can't do this anymore, I can't _do_ this, I can't _take_ this!" He punches through the wall behind him, hand protruding out the other side, and it hurts, but he's had worse pain.

"Cas, what the hell, stop it!" Cas feels hands on his shoulders and he's pulled back hard, thrown onto the bed. "What's going on with you?"

Then Cas sits up and tells him everything.

"Dean, I'm stuck in a time loop."

Dean sits down beside him, about a metre away so he can look at him. "Like _Groundhog Day?"_

"Yes, except that it resets everytime you fall in love with me."

Dean's eyebrows shoot up. "What? I, uh, I don't _love_ you -"

"No, I know, but it keeps happening and it's really hard because I keep having to leave you."

"Tell me about it."

Cas takes a deep breath and clutches Dean's forearm with both of his hands. "The first day was normal. I had no idea. We had breakfast and then came back to the hotel and I suggested you have a nap before we went to the Mystery Spot, because I remembered how you only get four hours a night. And you looked at me and smiled like you were seeing your first sunset and kissed me and I woke up at the foot of your bed, watching you as your alarm went off.

"The second day I was suspicious but I thought maybe the Mystery Spot had done something to me, so I didn't say anything to you, but then when we were eating breakfast I leaned forwards and wiped sauce from the side of your mouth with a napkin and you said it was like we were a married couple, and then I think you started imagining it because you laughed to yourself and smiled and then grabbed my tie over the table and pulled me towards you and kissed me and I woke up again, at the foot of your bed, watching you as your alarm went off.

"The third day I knew something was off, and I still didn't tell you, because I was curious to see what would happen. I decided to leave before you woke up and saw me. I waited for a few hours before returning and when you saw me you told me how worried you'd been and you punched me on the shoulder and then pulled me into a hug and then pulled back and kissed me. And I woke up again. At the foot of your bed. Watching you as your alarm went off."

Dean is still looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry," he says.

"The fourth day -"

"Cas, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"No, that's not what I mean." Tears form in Dean's eyes. "I love you."

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

Cas closes his eyes. "Turn the radio back on."

Dean frowns, but obliges. The music plays on.

"... _well if you sit down with this old clown, take that frown and break it. Before the evening's gone away, I think that we can make it._

" _...and I hope that I don't fall in love with you."_


	2. Part Two

This is it. He's had enough. Whatever it is that's causing this, he's going to kill it. He's ready.

But no, he's really not.

Cas goes out of his way to open a door for an old lady. Cas catches a butterfly on his finger. Cas steps into some sunlight. Whatever he does, it seems Dean is hellbent on falling in love with him. And Cas wonders if, deep down, Dean knows that Cas loves him so much it's killing him

The seventeenth Thursday, he tries doing something terrible, like causing a car crash with the wave of his hand. Dean just stares at him, horrified and disappointed, and then realises why there's more than one reason that he is.

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

"Dean, I know what took Mr Hasselback."

"What? How?"

"I did some research while you were sleeping."

Dean frowns. "Couldn't have waited for me?"

"This way was more efficient, seeing as I don't sleep."

Dean eyes him, sizing the situation up. "Okay. Next time consult me or something, but, okay. So, what's behind monster door number three?"

"A trickster."

"Gabriel?"

"No, there are real tricksters. It's likely to be one of them."

"Wooden stake, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm gonna call Sam, catch him up in case he's chasing some false leads." He dials speed dial #1 on his phone and has a brief conversation with Sam.

"How about we kill some time until nightfall?" he asks Cas, before flopping down on the bed and requesting his beauty sleep, and some privacy. Cas demanifests himself, and studies how a broken heart changes his perspective on the beauty of man. It doesn't.

Dean rises at 9am, grumbling about "why'd you let me sleep so long" while Cas regrets him waking up at all. Already dressed, Dean wanders into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash out his mouth before grabbing his keys and making towards the door. He stops and turns when he realises Cas isn't with him.

"Cas, you coming?"

"Where?"

"Breakfast. There's a diner down the road."

"Isn't there room service?"

"Yeah, but it's not as good. Place like this, probably don't even have _bacon_. What are we coming to?" He smiles ironically and swings himself out the door. Cas follows on foot.

Less than a minute later, they're in the car and Dean is blasting the radio. It's a random rock song, of no symbolistic importance, and Dean is singing along, throwing his head back and being as loud and as bad as he wants, because he knows that Cas doesn't care, and won't tell him to shut it. This is probably the longest time Dean and Sam have been apart in years, and they don't even know it.

While Dean is preoccupied, Cas thinks about how last time was probably the last time ever that he's going to see Dean fall in love with him, with him waking up afterwards. He watches the man as he sings, having a small, carefree moment. He's in the car with a friend on the way to breakfast, and he's singing along to a song on the radio that he loves and hasn't heard in a while. This is a perfectly normal sentence, and this may be why Dean is enjoying it so much. Is that the only reason that Dean is falling in love with Cas? Because it's normal to fall in love with your best friend? Well, it's certainly not normal to do it like _this._

The big questions come rolling around to the forefront of his mind again, more applicable this time. Will Dean love him when this is over? How much will he know? Why is the trickster even doing this?

And how did he know it would be worse than hell for him?

So Cas enjoys his final day with Dean, in this diner again, with that waitress again, and 'pig in a poke' and 'side of bacon' and the man who steals from the register and the man who's going to rob a mechanic and the man who dresses up as a bunny and the man whom he loves, irrevocably, completely, consumingly.

* * *

They spend the day doing nothing in particular, with Cas throwing Dean random questions about his childhood every ten minutes or so. Dean always answers and then asks why. Cas just shrugs.

They go to dinner that night, and Cas smiles as it's their first date and if all goes to plan, Dean will remember it. He won't know it's a date, though. But Cas will know, and he'll make it great.

Cas suggests the restaurant down the road, the fancy one with the foreign name, and Dean snorts and suggests McDonalds. Cas tells him he's sick of places like that, and so they compromise on a small coffee shop on the edge of town.

They set off at 7, Dean driving and singing again, rolling down the window and closing his eyes for longer than is safe when he feels the wind whirl through his hair. They're in a part of town Cas has never been to before, and he's seeing new people and new faces and it's thrilling and he wants to share it with Dean and kiss him and feel even happier. He doesn't.

Their table is in the back, due to a wink and husky voice from Dean to the adolescent waitress. The lighting is soft and the air smells like nights in a beautiful city and there's a candle, because even if Dean isn't giving out I-love-you vibes (yet), Cas certainly is.

"Oh, good, a candle. Let me just burn my eyes out," Dean says happily, which Cas assumes is sarcasm. He hopes that Dean didn't just reference what he did to Pamela. He really is sorry about that.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's lovely."

"Dean."

"Shut up and look at the menu."

Cas obliges, though it's futile. He decides to order a beer, to appease Dean, because he loves him. Dean orders the lasagna. Then they're left with each other.

"I thought this place was a coffee shop."

"My research must have been wrong." It wasn't. He'd chosen it on purpose.

"So, Cas, how you doing?" Dean asks casually, not meaning anything by it.

"Fine. Yourself?"

"Can't complain. Things seem pretty normal right now. I ain't looking that horse in its big ugly mouth."

"That was graphic."

"Can't make an omelette without a few disgusting metaphors."

Cas laughs, to which Dean says, "You're getting better at this. You know, social convention or whatever. You actually get my humour now."

"I suppose so," Cas says, instead of telling Dean about all the practise he's had.

"I feel like I should repeat every joke I've ever told just so you get the full impact of how awesome I am."

Cas smiles, instead of telling Dean that he'd like that, a lot.

The food arrives, and as the crowds around them get thicker, one of the staff puts the radio on. It starts playing modern pop, so Dean asks their waitress if they could turn it to a better station.

" _Well I hope that I don't fall in love with you, cos falling in love just makes me blue..."_

Cas jumps as the song he's heard every morning for the past eighteen mornings surrounds him. He's still in the restaurant. Nothing else has changed.

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I've had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

Dean sings along quietly and self-consciously as he stabs into his pasta. "You know this song?" Cas asks him.

Dean looks up. "Uh. Guess so. Comes on the radio a lot."

"You can say that again."

"What?"

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I guess. Why, it special?"

"No, I just wondered."

Dean gives him a look but ignores it. "Alright then, crazy. So, we hit up the Mystery Spot around ten?"

"Yes. It closes at eight, and the owner leaves around nine, so ten is sensible."

"My thoughts exactly." He keeps eating his food, and Cas nurses his beer.

It's not particularly special, seeing as they're talking about work and Dean has beef sauce on his chin, but the song is still playing and Cas finds that he loves it. He loves the words, the meaning behind them, the way they're sung, everything. He's fallen in love with the song the same way he's fallen in love with Dean, and they're both here at once, and Cas doesn't want it to end. But in place of the time loop, of the same day over and over, he's gonna get new days, new situations, and hopefully, Dean falling in love with him, forever. He doesn't get to _enjoy_ Dean being in love with him with this, he doesn't get to bathe in its warm honey, and he will. Or will he? He will. He'll make sure. He can't let this get away from him. This has been the single most informative experience of his life.

" _Well I turn around and look at you, you're nowhere to be found. I search the place for your lost face... guess I'll have another round._

" _And I think that I just fell in love with you."_

* * *

Before going to the Mystery Spot, they stop at the hotel to pick up their (Dean's) belongings, with Dean saying, "If we gank this guy, we can head off straight after, be back in Sioux Falls by sunrise."

Cas nods stiffly.

Dean picks up his things and heads out the door, but Cas stays for a few seconds, looking at the bed he'd woken up looking at for over two weeks. It looks different without Dean. He doesn't think he's going to miss it.

There's no music on the drive this time. Dean stares straight ahead of him, one arm slung casually over the bench, fingertips sometimes grazing Cas's shoulder accidentally. The streetlights light up his face occasionally. Cas sees that his mouth is set in a straight line, and wishes to kiss it undone.

He figures that they're not going to talk much once they get there, that this is his last chance, really, so he says, "Dean, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Cas, we're okay. It's fine. We're cool." Dean glances over and looks him up and down. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure," he says honestly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Cas knows that he can't, and it kills him. "Maybe when we're done with the case."

Dean sees this for the "no" that it is, and nods once. Cas considers saying more, but he can't risk saying anything else, because they've done so much today, come so far, and he doesn't want to throw that away. He doesn't want Dean to forget this. Not this. Not today.

They turn into the parking lot and Dean turnes the engine off, getting out immediately. Cas follows. They pick weapons from the trunk and go through a vague plan before Dean lays a hand on Cas's shoulder and says, "It's gonna be okay."

" _Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I've had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."_

The song plays in his head as he looks into Dean's eyes, seeing in them everything he wants to do, be, and be _with._ "I know, Dean. I've done this before."

"Yeah, I know, just. I worry about you, man."

"I'm an angel. I don't think your concern is necessary."

Dean rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean." Pause. "Emotionally."

Ironically, this kind of makes Cas want to cry. Only Dean understands how much his emotions confuse him, because he's not meant to have them. Dean understands how ashamed he feels of them sometimes, how much they hurt him, but how good they can be, too. Dean understands this because Dean is the same.

"That's very nice of you," is all Cas can think to say. Dean just pats him and says "come on" and walks towards the back door.

They split up as discussed, Cas taking the actual Mystery Spot while Dean takes the office and admin stuff. Cas holds his stake out in front of him, eyes constantly darting around, looking for the danger he knows is there. He has to find it before Dean does. He has questions Dean can't hear.

He looks around for ten minutes and finds nothing. Even though he can see in the dark, there isn't anything _to_ see. He searches for anyone's presence, and feels nothing, but that's already been faulty in this place. He keeps his guard up.

And then he hears a gun cock behind him.

"Don't move!" cries a male voice, and Cas spins round to see that an old man is holding a shotgun out in front of him.

"Are you the trickster?" Cas asks, and the man flinches at how calm he sounds.

"Drop the stick!" he yells, motioning with his gun to the stake Cas is holding.

"Are you?"

Suddenly the old man laughs, letting his gun drop to his side. "Fine. I know guns don't kill you, silly. Just wanted a bit of dramatic effect."

"Who are you?" demands Cas.

"Oh, this? Sorry." The old man waves his hand and his whole body shimmers in waves before transforming into -

"Gabriel?!"

"Hey, little bro. Welcome to the fun house."

"You did this to me? You killed Dexter Hasselback?" He strides forward and grabs Gabriel's collar. "Why?"

"Oh, Hasselback was easy. Said he didn't believe in worm holes, soooo I dropped him in one!" He laughs, and it settles into a smirk. "Now, your thing? That was different."

"Why did you do this?"

Gabriel looks surprised at how hurt Cas sounds. "What?! No, I did a _good_ thing!"

"Forcing me to watch the man I love fall in love with me and forget it over and over and over and _over_ again?"

"Well, yeah. Look at it this way." He glances down at Cas's hand on his shirt, giving him a look. Cas just tightens his grip, and Gabriel sighs. "Okay, Mr Macho, your boyfriend's not here to impress. Cool your jets. Anyway, yeah. Look at it this way. Now you know how to do it right."

"What?"

"You and Deano were just skirting around each other. Now you know what's up. I taught you a lesson."

"Did you have to do it so cruelly?"

"Is there any other way to go, Daddy-o?"

Cas rolls his eyes, and lets Gabriel go, who brushes his shirt down and says, "Thank you. Now, you gonna kill me, or what? You know _that's_ not gonna work." He waves a hand at the stake. Cas throws it to the side.

"So, does Dean, uh. Was it real that – does he really – uh."

"Does he really love you."

Cas nods.

"I don't know."

"So him falling in love with me – that wasn't real?"

"Oh, no, that was real. Well, not _real._ Think of it like this. If I hadn't been here, Dean wouldn't have fallen in love with you."

"So it wasn't real."

"I'm not _saying_ that. I'm saying, I influenced outside things. Caused a few too many coincidences. The diner down the road with pie? The let-me-dig-in-my-friend's-trenchcoat weather? The old guy with the shotgun? All me. Well, some more literally than others." He waggles his eyebrows and pretends to shoot Cas with the shotgun.

"So are you saying that, under the right circumstances, Dean falls in love with me."

"Yep. I mean, that could be said of anyone. Like, if me and you were on a swan boat in Bangkok right now I might look at you a little differently if you know what I mean -"

"So I just need to find the right circumstances."

"Right. And make it real this time."

Cas frowns. "Are you trying to help me?"

"Duh. I'm your brother, and I ship it." He laughs. "In all seriousness, it was almost too easy."

Cas fiddles with the buttons on his coat, thinking. "So, he could _not_ love me?"

"I swear it's like talking to a brick wall – _I don't know._ But go get him anyway, you nerdy little beauty, you."

Gabriel raises his hand, making to leave, but Cas stops him, saying, "What should I tell Dean?"

"Tell him it was me, I don't care. Say I'm very sorry and he'll get a free fully body massage from me personally next time we meet. Then tell him only one of those things is true." He winks, and clicks his fingers, and is gone.

* * *

"Gabriel?" Dean says in disbelief, still holding his stake out ready, squinting in the fluorescent lights of the women's bathroom. "What the hell was he doing here?"

"He was just, uh. Around."

"Around?" Dean does airquotes with his fingers, eyebrows raised. "He was _around_ and he decided to kill a guy? And you just let him go?!"

"He apologised." Technically.

"Since when does that count for anything? Oh, sorry I murdered millions of people, but they didn't let me into art school?"

"Did you just make a Hitler joke?"

"Cas!"

"That's very distasteful -"

"Why did you let him go?"

"He flew off, I don't know where." Cas hates seeing Dean so mad at him. Then he has an idea. "Here." He dips his hand into the inside pocket of his trenchcoat, pulling out the amulet and holding it out for Dean to see.

Dean stares at it, his whole body tensed. "You – how long have you had that?"

"I picked it up right after you threw it away."

"When were you gonna give it to me?" Dean's hands are balled into fists by his sides. Cas just seems to be making him more mad. He backtracks.

"I thought you didn't want it. I saved it just in case you ever tried to look for it."

"That wasn't yours to take, Cas!" Dean is yelling now, and Cas squeezes the pendant in his hand so that he doesn't cry. He's very confused, and lost, and in love.

"I'm sorry. I thought it was for the best."

"Don't, don't give me that crap. Just – I'll meet you back at Bobby's, okay? Leave me alone for a while." He holds out his hands. Not to pull Cas in, but to push him away.

Cas obliges.

* * *

"Welcome home," Sam greets as Cas appears in Bobby's living room. "Clear everything up?"

"Yes," Cas answers, because he's too tired and sad to go into detail.

"Awesome. Where's Dean?"

"Driving."

"You didn't go with him?"

"No."

Sam frowns. "You alright?"

"Fine."

"Alright, well. That's good." He pats him on the shoulder and walks off to get a beer. Cas sits down on Bobby's couch for a day until Dean gets back.

* * *

"Dean, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, Cas. I overreacted. It was nice of you to save it for me. I do want it back, actually."

Cas hands it to him. They don't touch.

"Thanks. We cool?"

"Always."

Dean smiles awkwardly. "Uh, good. I'm hungry." He walks towards the kitchen.

"There's a place not too far from here that does pie. Would you like me to pick one up for you?"

"Sure, Cas," shouts Dean from the other room. "That'd be great."

* * *

"I brought you lunch." He hands Dean the bag from the seaside shack in Delaware.

"Hey, thanks." Dean pulls out the burger and takes a bite. "That's good. Hey, I think I've had this before," he says with his mouth full, then swallows. "Anyway, Bobby wants to see you."

* * *

The vampire puts its teeth dangerously near Cas's throat. "You move, he's dead."

Dean just attacks it and yells at Cas afterwards for being so stupid.

* * *

"Dean, maybe you should have a nap before we head out. You may not sleep for at least twenty four hours."

"Shut up, I'm fine. Let's go."

* * *

Cas disappears for a few days.

"Hey, Cas. Where you been? We need you to translate something."

* * *

"Dean, something else happened to me at the Mystery Spot."

"What Mystery Spot?"

"The case we worked a few months ago."

"Cas – now isn't really a good time. I'm pretty busy. Raincheck?"

* * *

The days seem even shorter than they did before. Every day, Cas tries something that worked before. He ends up repeating them. Nothing works. No change in Dean. No change in Cas, either.

He gives up after seven months, resigning himself to unrequited love. It's not so bad, he figures. He gets to spend time with Dean, talk to him, share things with him. He can remember their time together perfectly; he can replay it in his head whenever he wants to kiss him. That's just as good.

It's obvious that work comes first to Dean. And that's okay. Work comes first to Cas, too. He forces it to.

He pays attention, though. Close attention. To the way Dean smiles, says things, looks at him. He's not kidding himself, he knows there's nothing there. He's still looking for it, though. He still believes.

One day, Dean is about to make a beer run. He shoves a twenty in his back pocket and turns to Cas, as he always does, to say, "You need anything?" Cas shakes his head, and Dean turns to go. But he pauses at the door. Cas glances over to see why, and Dean looks away, and leaves promptly, and nothing more is said of the matter.

A few weeks later, Cas is reading a book, unconsciously running his fingers up and down the worn spine. He breathes in the old smell. It's his second favourite smell in the whole world. He looks up when he hears a small noise to see Dean leaning against a doorframe, looking at him. Cas expects him to look away, but he doesn't. This time, Dean keeps looking. This time, Dean smiles.

Cas smiles too. Day 1.


End file.
